The first Basque Government was created in 1936, upon the approval of its first Statute of Autonomy on October 1. It was headed by the lehendakariJosé Antonio Aguirre (EAJ-PNV) and was supported by a coalition of all the parties that fought the Francoist forces in the Civil War: Basque Nationalist Party and those comprising the Popular Front (PSOE, Communist Party, Republicans, Basque Nationalist Action). After the defeat of the Spanish Republic in the Civil War, the Basque Government remained in exile, chaired by Jesús María Leizaola since the death of Aguirre in 1960. It was not formally disbanded until the approval of the new Statute of Autonomy, after the death of the Spanish dictator, Francisco Franco, and the recovery of Democracy, in 1979.